# Multiplayer Federated Learning: Reaching Equilibrium with Less Communication

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.08263 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.08263/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 94 of its 149 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Jan 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 94)

- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [Advances and Open Problems in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04977/) (2019)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning: Challenges, Methods, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07873/) (2019)
- [Federated Learning: Strategies for Improving Communication Efficiency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.05492/) (2016)
- [Federated Learning with Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.00582/) (2018)
- [Federated Multi-Task Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.10467/) (2017)
- [Personalized Federated Learning with Moreau Envelopes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.08848/) (2020)
- [Local SGD Converges Fast and Communicates Little](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.09767/) (2018)
- [Federated Learning for Mobile Keyboard Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.03604/) (2018)
- [Federated Optimization: Distributed Machine Learning for On-Device Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.02527/) (2016)
- [Towards Personalized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00710/) (2021)
- [Adaptive Federated Learning in Resource Constrained Edge Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.05271/) (2018)
- [A Survey on Federated Learning Systems: Vision, Hype and Reality for Data Privacy and Protection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09693/) (2019)
- [A Unified Theory of Decentralized SGD with Changing Topology and Local Updates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.10422/) (2020)
- [Adaptive Personalized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.13461/) (2020)
- [Parallel Restarted SGD with Faster Convergence and Less Communication: Demystifying Why Model Averaging Works for Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.06629/) (2018)
- [On Gradient Descent Ascent for Nonconvex-Concave Minimax Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.00331/) (2019)
- [A Unified Game-Theoretic Approach to Multiagent Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.00832/) (2017)
- [Tighter Theory for Local SGD on Identical and Heterogeneous Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.04746/) (2019)
- [Training GANs with Optimism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.00141/) (2017)
- [Federated Learning of a Mixture of Global and Local Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05516/) (2020)
- [SGD: General Analysis and Improved Rates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.09401/) (2019)
- [Federated Multi-Task Learning under a Mixture of Distributions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.10252/) (2021)
- [Optimization, Learning, and Games with Predictable Sequences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1311.1869/) (2013)
- [Adaptive Gradient-Based Meta-Learning Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.02717/) (2019)
- [On the Convergence of Local Descent Methods in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.14425/) (2019)
- [Achieving Geometric Convergence for Distributed Optimization over Time-Varying Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.03218/) (2016)
- [A Variational Inequality Perspective on Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.10551/) (2018)
- [A Unified Analysis of Extra-gradient and Optimistic Gradient Methods for Saddle Point Problems: Proximal Point Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.08511/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Incentivizing Truthful Language Models via Peer Elicitation Games](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.13636/) (2025)
- [Direct Acceleration of Stochastic Root-Finding Without Variance Reduction and Regularization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.12043/) (2026)
- [Extragradient Method for (L0, L1)-Lipschitz Root-finding Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.22421/) (2025)
- [Online Federation For Mixtures of Proprietary Agents with Black-Box Encoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.00216/) (2025)
- [Decoupled SGDA for Games with Intermittent Strategy Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.14652/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Traditional Federated Learning (FL) approaches assume collaborative clients with aligned objectives working towards a shared global model. However, in many real-world scenarios, clients act as rational players with individual objectives and strategic behaviors, a concept that existing FL frameworks are not equipped to adequately address. To bridge this gap, we introduce Multiplayer Federated Learning (MpFL), a novel framework that models the clients in the FL environment as players in a game-theoretic context, aiming to reach an equilibrium. In this scenario, each player tries to optimize their own utility function, which may not align with the collective goal. Within MpFL, we propose Per-Player Local Stochastic Gradient Descent (PEARL-SGD), an algorithm in which each player/client performs local updates independently and periodically communicates with other players. We theoretically analyze PEARL-SGD and prove that it reaches a neighborhood of equilibrium with less communication in the stochastic setup compared to its non-local counterpart. Finally, we verify our theoretical findings through numerical experiments.